Steve Ringer
See how dropping a Hybrid feeder down the edge can lead you to a big weight of carp this weekend...
shows you how to fish a Hybrid feeder in the margins
MARGIN fishing is really kicking off right now, with some big weights already being taken on stillwaters across the country.
Most anglers are fishing the pole, but that can present problems. It never ceases to amaze me how many times, after matches, I listen to anglers saying what a nightmare they have had with line bites, foul hookers galore, and few carp in the net.
When I say ‘have you tried fishing a feeder?’ I get some funny looks – however, this tactic makes perfect sense.
To begin with the chances of foul hooking a carp are virtually nil. Every time the tip goes round you know it’s ‘fish on’ and you also only pick up on proper bites, so the chances of spooking any feeding fish are greatly reduced.
It also takes depth out of the equation as even in the deepest of margins you can still fish a feeder!
Here’s how to do it now…
ADD GROUNDBAIT
When it comes to what to put on the feeder it’s 2mm coarse pellets for me. The type I use depends on fishery rules, but if it’s not fishery
own pellets I will always opt for Ringers Method micros.
I soak these for 30 seconds in cold water and leave them to stand for 30-35 minutes.
To this, when edge fishing on the feeder, I like to add a handful of Ringers R Crush groundbait.
This gives the pellets a little flavour boost, with the bonus that margin carp are used to eating groundbait down the edge!
As a guide, for two pints of pellets I add just under-half-a pint of groundbait to the mix.
KICKING THE SWIM OFF
How I feed depends on a few things. First, if the swim is
close enough I can feed it via the pole, potting my bait in and then dropping the feeder over the top.
Potting helps to minimise disturbance and also lets me feed a large volume of bait a lot quicker.
However, when I’m fishing down the bank, past pole range, I will feed via the feeder and kick the swim off by putting 8-10 feederfuls of bait on the spot.
Normally this is something that I’ll do with around two hours to go in a match situation.
I’ll then let the swim settle for 20-30 minutes before casting the feeder over the feed.
If I get a run of fish and it then goes quiet I will make three or four quick casts to top up the swim and get some bait back on the bottom.
This normally does the trick, but if it doesn’t, resting the swim for 10 minutes can also work.
WASHED-OUT HOOKBAITS
When it comes to hookbaits, it will come as no surprise to anyone reading this to know that it’s all about wafters!
Edge fish are notoriously hard to catch so it makes sense to use any advantage you can, and the lightweight wafters, in 10mm size, are easily picked up by fish.
I tend to stick to just two colours – the trusted Chocolate Orange and the much newer Washedout Yellow – and they both offer advantages.
Chocolate Orange works as a stand-out bait to give the carp something to home in on among the feeder pellets, while the Washed-out Yellow matches the pellets and groundbait really well so it blends in, fooling even the wariest of carp.
I like to kick off on the orange and then, if I’m getting signs but no bites, I will swap to the yellow.
USE BIGGER HOOKS
I’ve changed my thinking on line and hooks where carp are concerned. I now feel that as far as hooks go, bigger is definitely better.
I find that with a bigger hook my bite-to-fish ratio is much higher which, at the end of the day, is what it’s all about.
As a result, when looking to catch big carp in the margins I will use a size 10 QM1 hook.
To some this will seem massive, but when you look at the size of the mouth of a 10lb carp it soon becomes apparent that it really isn’t!
The hooklength itself is 4ins of Guru N-Gauge in 0.19mm, which is tough enough to cope with fish as big as 20lb – should one come along, that is!
FISH A SLACK LINE
A great little tip when fishing the Hybrid feeder in the edge is to always make sure you fish with a slack line between rod-tip and feeder.
The big advantage of this is that should a fish swim into the line it’s far less likely to spook if it’s slack.
With a tight line running through the swim, if a fish swims into the line there is a lot more resistance which more often than not will lead to the fish spooking out of the swim and perhaps taking the others with it.
If you’re worried about the fish not hooking themselves if the line is slack, then don’t!
If a carp sucks the hookbait in it will hook itself against the weight of the feeder, not a tight line to your rod-tip.
Drop-back bites can also be spotted by watching the line where it enters the water. If it all starts to fall back towards you then you know the feeder has moved, and more than likely there is a fish on.